Over the past few months, I have been working across several cities and regions, which have or hope to create, a fintech hub. Although they are all very different, in terms of their existing strengths, their potential, their approach and their progress, at their heart, the process each of these countries are going through to create an effective ecosystem is very similar and in many ways highly repeatable.

To support Deloitte’s leadership role in developing the Fintech strategy in Scotland, we recently ran a workshop with the University of Edinburgh’s MSc Accountancy & Finance students to bring to life the complexities of developing and launching a Fintech start-up. With brilliant mentorship from Craig Paterson of the Data Lab, we set 3 teams the challenge of building a business case with projected expenditure and revenues, considering recent market opportunities presented by Open Banking, and capabilities such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

There aren’t many points in the development of a business where you get the opportunity to really play a part in something that has the potential to change the face of the industry and make a lasting impression on the future of an industry or a region. For me, in however many years’ time I want to walk away from my career and be proud that the team and I properly made a difference in our sphere of work, and I’m incredibly proud to be part of a firm that holds that value really close to its heart.

Now, I’m going to try and get through this blog without the phrase ‘Data is the new oil’. Every conference with any link to data science and financial services will have at least one speaker (if not more) that will utter these words to try and express the true value now being placed on data.

With DataFest 18 coming up and Deloitte’s team organising our second Datathon in the Edinburgh office, I’ve been thinking about how I went from being a casual competition-goer to a consultant in the firm. To quote one of our directors, I’ve gone “from Datathon to Deloitte” – a journey I didn’t necessarily expect to go through one year ago.

Artificial intelligence (AI): it’s a phrase appearing in the news and in our everyday lives more and more these days. Although there may be some truth behind the eye-catching headlines on AI and robots taking thousands of jobs, it’s unlikely to be as dramatic as it sounds.

In this instalment of “a day in the life of…” we speak to Kent Mackenzie, a Director in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory practice. There may not be such a thing as a “typical” day in his life with the Firm, but most mornings start with some time with the kids and a good cup of tea...

Continuing our series on what it’s really like to work at Deloitte, we speak to Sithu Aye, a technology consulting analyst in our Glasgow office. In a brief interview, he talks about how, despite not ever really having a “typical day”, things are about to change dramatically for him.

On a cold winter’s morning in December last year, Bela from The Infinite Kind and I sat down and started to plan the next FinTech Hackathon in Edinburgh.

I suggested we host in the Deloitte office…now for those of you that have been here you will know that it is a beautiful, gleaming, space that we spend time with our clients in…all very civilised…and in my mind perfect to invite and help 50+ ‘hackers’ to run riot and create new applications for the changing world of Finance!

In the first part of an occasional series looking at what it’s really like to work at Deloitte, we speak to Elizabeth Hollinger, head of our Analytics Lab in Scotland and a key figure in setting up our Digital Studio and client Greenhouse space in Edinburgh. In a brief interview, she talks about her love of learning, beginning her career in actuarial services and what it’s like to always be on the move.

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